Reggie’s Top 100 Favorite Albums of All Time #80-76

Continuing on with our Top 100 list at The History of Metal, I bring you my next five with a little bit of justification. If you haven’t checked out The History of Metal or THOM as we call it, please do it’s a cool forum to talk about and share metal. The page creator does a great job as keeping topics fresh and he also takes the time to pose challenges to the group; Top 100 Albums being one of them. I think the best part of this whole challenge besides getting to see everyone else’s choices is to reminisce about why I love these albums so much. It gets me listening to some of these I haven’t heard in a while. Not to mention, seeing everyone elses favorites gets me to explore some things I haven’t heard yet. Enjoy!

#80 – DevilDriver – DevilDriver

The first time I heard DevilDriver, I understood the direction Dez Fafara wanted to go with Coal Chamber. Since Coal Chamber wasn’t working out, DevilDriver was the perfect opportunity to start over; and that is exactly what Dez did. He started from scratch refusing to carry his new band on the weight of his success with Coal Chamber. I like DevilDriver’s aggressive and uncompromising sound. To date, they have yet to record a ballad of any kind and seem to refuse to record anything that would be considered radio-friendly…at least in America. DevilDriver was their self-titled debut album in 2003 and still packs a punch almost 10-years later. They are a great bunch of guys; really open to hanging with fans.

#79 – Dirt – Alice in Chains

This may be the only certifiable Grunge band on my list. I also think Alice in Chains was the best of the bunch, however, that may have something to do with seeing them live twice during the Clash of the Titans tour with Megadeth, Slayer, and Anthrax in 1990 or 1991. Alice in Chains was a strange opener for such esteemed headliners, but it worked and I gained a bit of respect for them and liked them ever since. Dirt is a great album with some deep, emotional, and dark songs such as Rooster and Down in a Hole.

#78 – One for Sorrow – Insomnium

I have really taken a liking to this Finnish band. It’s only been a year maybe two that I have been listening to this album which I bought on iTunes because it was suggested under…people who bought this album also bought… I am not sure what I bought for iTunes to bring up Insomnium, but I am glad I did. The album is heavy, melodic, and also very dark. Again, this is another cool bunch of guys if given the chance to meet them.

#77 – Galactic Cowboys – Galactic Cowboys

With a name like Galactic Cowboys it’s safe to assume these guys might be a bit quirky. Needless to say, they are, but at the same time made some pretty cool music. This album in particular was their debut album in 1991. I caught them opening for Overkill and from then on was a pretty loyal fan of the band. There were a few albums that didn’t fall within my particular taste, but of the seven they released in nine years (the last in 2000), they produced a steady stream of metal with some progressive elements.

#76 – Iowa – Slipknot

When Slipknot does something right, they really know how to make a good Thrash song. Unfortunately, they seem to be hit or miss and sometimes and I feel they try to be heavy for the sake of being heavy. To me, Iowa (released in 2001) represents their best overall collection of Slipknot songs on one CD. With each of their albums, I find they have several gems, but for the most part I skip over half the album, except for when I listen to Iowa. I think they matured a lot from their debut self-titled album. Despite what I think are some weaknesses with the band, I would like to see them live; they look like they put on an intense show.

I listened to the s**t out of that Galactic Cowboys album. I wish they would remaster it because the sound quality seems a bit off, like there is too much bass…can’t quite pinpoint it. Did you see Slipknot live before? I would still like to see them someday, from what I see in videos it looks like a cool show.

I’ve seen Slipknot a few times. The first was when they just released their first album and they opened up for Machine Head with Coal Chamber as the headliner (ain’t that a backwards ass line up, lol). They really didn’t do it for me at that show. The second wasn’t to long after where I got dragged to their headlining show at the local metal club, The Birch Hill. I am now happy I was dragged to that show at such a tiny place, they were off the hook and it was amazing that all of them squeezed on stage. They were great and put a lot of energy into the music and the crowd was nuts. The guy with the spikes on the head of his mask tried to stage dive and the crowd parted like the Red Sea to avoid getting impaled and the dude fell flat on his face. Was funny as hell. He bounced right back up, pushed a few people and went back to work.

The third time I saw them is when fame really hit them and it was a a big stadium at an Ozzfest. It was about when their 3rd album came out. They sounded like shit (the fact I really didn’t like the 3rd album much didn’t help) and just didn’t have the energy like I saw them with at the local club show. Everything they did just seemed ‘plastic’. I really haven’t listened to them outside of Iowa since then.